Map your mood and learn more about yourself.

What is MoodPrism?

MoodPrism is a newly developed app that helps you learn about your mood by transforming daily mood reports into a colourful summary of your emotional health. You will receive feedback on your mood each day, and the more you use the app, the more detailed this information will become – with flourishing scores after 1 week’s use, and depression/anxiety scores after 2 weeks of use. It also provides health information based on your daily mood, and links to mental health resources.

We believe that using MoodPrism can help you boost your emotional health and well-being.

Research using MoodPrism

Research is essential to make sure that health apps like MoodPrism actually help people. We think MoodPrism will be an important and enjoyable way of monitoring emotional health, but we need your help to show this.

Beyondblue has funded a team of researchers led by Adjunct Associate Professor Nikki Rickard from Monash University to test how useful this app is for all types of users. See Research Background below if you want to read more about this research.

You have the opportunity to play an important part in this research, which may help many people to improve their well-being and prevent mental health problems.

Want to participate?

We are often seeking participants 13 years or over, who currently use any type of mobile device (such as an iPhone, android phone, iPad or tablet) for our research. If you would like to be involved, we will contact you if a study starts up in which you could take part.

You may need to download a mobile app and use it for a month. This will involve completing about an hour’s worth of surveys at the start (which you can do in several chunks if you want), and then answering short questions (2 mins) when prompted by the app daily.

All information collected is de-identified and completely confidential.

Register your interest in participating:

All data will remain confidential. Responses marked with * are compulsory.

Download information about participating HERE, or if you are under 18, find information for your parents HERE.

Email Address *

Device *

Apple (iPhone or iPad)

Android (Samsung, HTC, etc.)

Queries

Thank you! It may be a number of weeks or months before we contact you about participation, so sit tight and we'll let you know when it's time for you to start.

Research Background

Mental health apps

Emotional awareness is important for mental health and wellbeing. People often want to manage their own emotional issues, but sometimes we could do with some help recognizing how we feel. It can also sometimes be difficult to know where to get help or support when we need it to improve our emotional health. Monitoring risk in people with mental health problems can also be a significant challenge for practitioners, parents and teachers. More than 1 in 10 people live with anxiety or depression, but only a third of us seek professional help [1]. Ongoing monitoring when receiving help can also be a significant challenge for mental health professionals.

eMental Health services are beginning to erode some of the access barriers to mental health support by providing flexible and confidential information, support and intervention via the internet. In 2018, two thirds of the population in over 50 countries own a smartphone [2]. Australian statistics show that in 2012, 74% of users never leave home without their mobile device [3]. Mobile mental health technology is emerging as a promising and innovative way of supporting mental health when professional services cannot be accessed [4]. There is however an overwhelming lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of these apps [5]. Of the few apps that are supported by scientific research, few are still available from iTunes or Google Play stores. In a recent publication, we reviewed the research on mobile mental health apps and provided a list of 16 recommendations for researchers or app developers to consider when creating mental health apps [6].

MoodPrism (Version 2: Estimated release date August 2018)

In this app, we harness the popularity of mobile technology to develop a sustainable and engaging way of monitoring and providing feedback on emotional wellbeing. The updated app invites users to complete regular check-ins (daily, weekly, or on demand) on their mood. This methodology (known as ‘experience sampling methodology’ or ‘ecological momentary assessment’ [7]) is well-established as providing a more valid and reliable insight into a person’s emotional state in real time than traditional questionnaires alone. Incorporating this into a smartphone app enhances the integrity of this information as a user can complete the check-ins quickly with minimal disruption to their daily activities, and using a device with which they are very familiar. A full description of how the original version of MoodPrism was developed has been published [8].

MoodPrism provides rich feedback on a person’s emotional health as it fluctuates over time. Providing this feedback can help users identify patterns in their moods, and the app also notes when and with whom they were at different moodpoints. Raising emotional awareness and insight has been demonstrated to improve wellbeing [9]. For example, in a recent study we found that using MoodPrism for 30 days increased mental wellbeing, and reduced depression and anxiety in a community sample. For people who were depressed or anxious when they began using the app, this change was partially explained by the increase in emotional awareness they reported [10].

MoodPrism also provides users with mental health information delivered confidentially to their own phone. The mental health resources in the app were developed in partnership with leading mental health organizations beyond blue and headspace, and are tailored to how users report they are feeling.

Apps like MoodPrism can help people monitor changes in their emotional health on a day-to-day basis. By providing regular feedback, use of this app may help identify when risk of emotional illhealth increases and therefore when extra help might be needed. With permission of the user, this information could also be shared with parents, teachers, doctors or friends to access information on how people are travelling emotionally when they are not in contact with them. In addition to being an easy to use and informative health app to use, the research we are performing also contributes to the broader evidence about whether mental health apps work and whether they help people in the way intended by their developers.

MoodPrism's content is drawn from psychological literature with a strong evidence base, including emotion theories (e.g., Gross's emotion regulation theory, Russell's circumplex theory), positive psychology (e.g., Seligman's PERMA framework) and dual models of mental health (e.g., Keyes' Complete Mental health model). Evidence supporting MoodPrism's sensitivity to detect meaningful changes in emotional state over time, and its potential impact on emotional health, has been published in international, peer-rviewed scientific journals: see below for list of current publications on MoodPrism.

Learn more about MoodPrism

Contact Us

The following organisations have supported the development of MoodPrism

MoodPrism was financially supported by beyondblue, The University of Melbourne and Monash University

Other Support Options

Here is a collection of up-to-date links and services that you may find useful if things are tough. Each website listed has information about getting help and clearly marked contact numbers to talk to someone. You can also check out the beyondblue Website, where you'll find lots of information about mental health and mental health support.

Suicide Call Back Service - 24 hour free telephone and online counselling for people over 15 years old who are feeling suicidal, caring for someone who is suicidal, bereaved by suicide, or a health professional supporting people affected by suicide.

Samaritans - Telephone help line that offers non-religious, non-judgemental and confidential emotional support to the lonely, despairing, suicidal, or those at risk of becoming so.

Kids Helpline - Information and support for kids, teens, young adults, or parents/carers. Phone, email, and webchat counselling available.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, contact one of the above services and make a safety plan using BeyondNow - an app created by beyondblue.

Seeing a Psychologist or other professional

If you are experiencing ongoing feelings of low mood, anxiety, or other psychological distress, it is important to visit a health professional for assessment and treatment. You can find information about treatment options here and finding professionals here.

OkToTalk helps you find a great psychologist. They get to know your needs, your personality, and what’s going on for you. Get matched with a psychologist in your area who’s just right for you.

In Australia, there is a Medicare rebate for sessions with a psychologist. This means that if you visit a GP and obtain a Mental Health Treatment Plan, you can have up to 10 sessions supported by Medicare - meaning you do not have to pay the full fee for the psychologist and either not be out of pocket or just pay a gap fee. If you would like more information about seeing a psychologist or getting other forms of help, talk to your GP.

An online face to face mental health counselling app that connects you to a live mental health practitioner anytime, anywhere from the comfort of your home or office using just your smartphone. Click here and find a practitioner who can help you right now.